Bol 'gave his life for freedom'

Chris Elsberry

Published 3:32 pm, Saturday, July 12, 2014

PHILADELPHIA - MARCH 23: Former NBA star, Manute Bol, speaks as he and other Sudanese natives participate in a rally for action to end the violence in Sudan at Independence Hall March 23, 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The rally took place in support of former Sudanese slave Simon Deng's 300 mile Sudanese Freedom Walk. Deng is walking from New York to Washington, DC to shed light on modern day genocide and slavery in Sudan. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)
Photo: William Thomas Cain, ST

PHILADELPHIA - MARCH 23: Former NBA star, Manute Bol, speaks as he...

WASHINGTON - APRIL 05: Former Sudanese slave Simon Deng (L) and 7-foot 6-Inch Manute Bol attend a rally after Deng completed a 300 mile walk from New York to Washington April 5, 2006 in Washington DC. The rally was held to shed light on the genocide and modern-day slavery in Sudan. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Photo: Mark Wilson, ST

WASHINGTON - APRIL 05: Former Sudanese slave Simon Deng (L) and...

WASHINGTON - APRIL 05: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (L) shakes hands with 7-foot 6 inch tall Manute Bol during a rally April 5, 2006 in Washington DC. The rally was held to shed light on the genocide and modern-day slavery in Sudan. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Photo: Mark Wilson, ST

Nearly right to the very end of his life, Manute Bol never stopped working to try to help his country.

Whether it was working with Sudan Sunrise to build fully functional schools in his home village of Turalie in southern Sudan, or working with the Alliance of the Lost Boys to bring in much-needed medical assistance, Bol's life was dedicated to trying to heal his country -- a country that had been ravaged by almost 20 years of civil war -- through endless charity work.

"The more Manute did, the poorer he became," said Tom Prichard, the executive director of Sudan Sunrise, a non-profit organization to help facilitate reconciliation and solidarity between southern Sudanese Christians, Darfuri Muslims and all Sudanese people. "None of what Manute did was for his benefit. He impoverished himself for the benefit of South Sudan."

Over the course of his 10-year NBA career, Bol, who played one year of college basketball in 1984-85 at the University of Bridgeport, made an estimated $5.8 million. Nearly all of that money went back to his native Sudan to try to rebuild his ravaged country.

"God guided me to America and gave me a good job," Bol said in a 2004 Sports Illustrated story. "But he also gave me a heart so I would look back."

Bol was in Sudan working on the construction of his village's first true school, one with walls and desks and running water in 2009, when he contracted Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a skin disease that would ultimately take his life. Told many times by friends to come back to the United States for treatment, Bol stayed in the Sudan until a nationwide election had taken place, telling people not to be bribed into voting.

"He was very sick and we were all telling him to come back to the U.S.," said Prichard, who first met Manute through Bol's aunt Tereza, in 2004. "But he knew that people in Khartoum were buying votes with money and food, and Manute went out and spoke to these people and told them, `Keep the food, keep the money, but don't vote for these people.'

"He was so weak that they had to carry him from the car to the chair where he sat, but he spoke with the people. And the people listened and the right people won (the election). Later, in the (D.C.) hospital when he was so very sick, Manute said to me, `I did it.' He basically gave his life for the freedom of South Sudan."

Filmmaker Matt Kohn was working with Sudan Sunrise on a documentary on reconciliation work between Christians and Muslims when he met Manute, who was working on that initial school construction project. Bol had both Christians and Muslims working together at the school, making bricks using a earth-block compress, to complete a six-room school with running water, bathrooms and a kitchen.

"I started filming with Manute in January of 2008," said Kohn, who's looking for funds to complete the documentary called "Our Tall Man." "And through that process we became friends.

"Basically, Manute was kind of amazing, because he was so humble about his own accomplishments in life. One of the things that Manute was really great at doing was giving other people their voices. That's really what his passion was. And through the school, through the people he was working with, he made sure that their voices were included in what he was doing."

Bol's presence and stature were paramount in helping to save many of the Sudanese "Lost Boys," according to Prichard.

"He flew in while he was still playing in the NBA and flew into where the `Lost Boys' were being surrounded," Prichard said. "The government of Khartoum, this was 20 years ago, was worried that these boys would grow up to be soldiers and they wanted to starve them to death -- this was 20,000 boys -- and Manute went in and he walked through the crowd with tears in his eyes. And the next day, food was air-dropped in, and then the U.N. got involved (granting amnesty) because of what Manute had done."

Tereza Bol was working with southern Sudanese Christians to bring aid to the Muslims that they had been fighting after the 2005 peace agreement.

"When she went to the camps to bring medicine and food and clothing, they weren't sure how they'd be received, and they were stunned by the reaction from the Darfur refugees, which basically was, `Please forgive us,'" Prichard said. "They said, `We were told that you were our enemies, you're not our enemy, please forgive us.' When Tereza came back, her involvement influenced Manute. Then Manute did some amazing things. He became a real advocate for the people of Darfur."

At Bol's memorial service in 2010, Dr. Akec K.A. Khoc, a Sudanese ambassador, said that "Manute had a very great heart for his country and people. He did everything to support anybody in need of shoes, blankets, health service, food, and people who were struggling. Manute embodied everything we can think of in Sudan. Manute was a voice for hope."

What still amazes Prichard is that Bol had upwards of 240 family members killed at the hands of the Muslims during the civil war, yet he forgave them.

"Manute would say, `The Muslims are not my enemies, they are my brothers ¦ the government is the problem,'" Prichard said. "That fact, that he could just forgive like that, is simply incredible.